Barcelona tourist flat owners claim $4.4 bln for closure plan

BARCELONA

Tourist apartment owners in Barcelona are demanding more than 4.2 billion euros ($4.4 billion) in compensation over plans to scrap such accommodation by 2029, a sector body has said. 

Barcelona is a focus of growing concern about over-tourism in Spain, the world's second most-visited country, with angry locals complaining that short-term rentals for visitors have made housing unaffordable.

Barcelona's Socialist mayor Jaume Collboni announced in June his intention to do away with tourist apartments by not issuing or renewing licences for such housing when the existing permits expire by November 2028.

Apartur, which represents management companies and individual owners of tourist flats, in a statement called the measure "a covert expropriation."

The claims have been presented before the government of the northeastern Catalonia region, whose capital is Barcelona, and concern 7,200 apartments, it added.

The money demanded takes into account investments and spending by owners in the past five years and the expected return if their activity continued, Apartur said.

If the regional government fails to respond to the demand within six months, Apartur can begin legal action.

Announcing his plan, Collboni invoked a decree approved last year by the Catalan regional authority which regulates the number of tourist apartments in municipalities with the greatest housing market stress.

Owners have reacted furiously and say the roughly 10,000 tourist apartments represent only one percent of Barcelona's housing stock.

The lucrative tourism industry represents around 13 percent of Spain's economy, with Barcelona receiving around 170,000 visitors on average every day.